Mexican States Vote Under Shadow of Drug War

July 4, 2010 12:54


Sunday’s vote takes place six days after a candidate for governor from the northern state of Tamaulipas, Rodolfo Torre, was shot dead while campaigning in the state. Torre represented the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which is expected to sweep the elections.

VOA News.com

Voters in a dozen Mexican states are casting ballots in municipal and governor’s elections overshadowed by the country’s drug war.

Sunday’s vote takes place six days after a candidate for governor from the northern state of Tamaulipas, Rodolfo Torre, was shot dead while campaigning in the state. Torre represented the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which is expected to sweep the elections.

The PRI held power in Mexico for 71 years but lost control to opposition parties, such as President Felipe Calderon’s National Action Party, in the past decade. PRI supporters say the recent drug-related violence shows President Calderon’s efforts to fight illegal drug trafficking have not worked.

President Calderon has pledged to defend Mexico’s democracy against the gangs, which have launched a campaign of intimidation against politicians running in local elections.

Torre and several aides were killed in an ambush while campaigning in the town of Valle Hermoso, near Mexico’s border with the United States. It was Mexico’s highest-level political murder in 16 years.

FULL STORY



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